In the era of online purchasing sites such as eBay® and Craigslist®, the process of exchanging items such as packages and other transportable goods from one person to another has become a topic of significant attention. In particular, enhancing safety and security in the exchanging process is highly desirable.
Those involved in exchanging an item may commonly include senders, receivers, and delivery personnel such as for example the U.S. Postal Service®. Receivers are people who are intended to receive the item. Often times the receiver is a person who purchased the item. The sender may be a manufacturer, vendor, seller, or distributor of the item, for example. In response to the purchase of an item in, for example, Craigslist® the sender may enlist the services of delivery personnel (e.g., couriers, shippers, postal service) if the item is to be shipped to a relatively distant location. For more local transactions, however, senders or receivers may also function as the delivery personnel, delivering or picking up the item themselves for the other person's location or from a neutral site. This sometimes raises issues of safety and security.
Although unattended delivery and retrieval systems have been devised, safety and security in the exchanging process has been a challenge. Security personnel may help enhance security but may also increase the cost of the transactions. Curtailing time availability of delivery and retrieval systems to daylight hours may also help enhance security but may make it inconvenient for users. Locating delivery and retrieval systems within busy locations such as gas stations, bus stations, train stations, convenience stores, etc. may also enhance security but may limit access and availability.
Therefore, there is a need in the field for improvements to the item exchange process to make it more safe and secure while making it also convenient, widely available, and cost-effective.